The New Year Beckons
Here we are in the last moments before 2026. The entire world seems to slow down between Christmas and New Year’s. Businesses find a lower gear, with shorter hours and more grace for family. We cocoon with those we love.
The world takes a breath.
Between the celebration of incarnation and the headlong rush into the future, we collectively pause to assess. In a society that paces before the microwave of life, we suspend the race for a brief, almost imperceptible, moment.
The year before us holds no footprints. It is an unmarred path, a blank page. It seems to hold the promise of beginning again – of Jubilee for our lives and hearts and souls.
Then comes the Rose Parade, all those Bowl games, the rifle goes off and the race is on…again…for another year.
So in the few dwindling hours of this year, I pause to consider. What has my life meant in the last 364 days? Have I furthered the Kingdom? Have I been attractive for the gospel – or has my flesh pushed people away? Has the noisy, demanding tyranny of the world pushed out the still quiet voice of God in my own heart?
Christmas as a celebration of the incarnation is not a one day celebration of a rescue mission. It is a daily challenge to our way of life.
Praise God that when Jesus came to earth, he passed by any bounds of race, nationality or origin. Christmas is a challenge for us to live out every day.
As I reflect on the many years now past, I realize that I do not want to live just to be old. I want to really live – live graciously and broadly in whatever years I am given. Like a traveler, I do not wish to rush around in a circle – to be taught the same lessons year after year for my failure to learn them. Rather, I want to push out into new thoughts, new responsibilities, ever more closely walking with God.
The old year peels off the days like an onion nearing its center: richer, fuller flavored than the dry husky days of last summer. Savoring them requires time.
Tomorrow an unmarred path leads away from the fireplace and the solace of warm, snuggly places to the 365 opportunities to show love & grace that lay before me, Lord willing.
The New Year beckons.
Written by Cara Shelton, “retired” homeschool mom of three, former ACHEV officer and board member
